yeah, kinda pissy. mom's a bitch, shocker. but i like to write when im mad so, there i go.
"I really would prefer to pound you into the ground using my bare hands but, alas, I have the inclination that you did not come here to fight me." Malfoy feigned sadness at the fact.
Harry rolled his eyes. "What was the indicator, the fact that I ordered that you surrender Hermione or that I said 'I'm not here to fight you?'" He asked with well-composed dignity.
"Both of us know that that will never happen, Harry. I'm shocked you would even suggest such a thing. I thought that both of us were intelligent people, me more so, but nonetheless..."
"While this witty banter is invigorating, assuredly, I would just like to get on with the death and torture until you reveal the whereabouts of Hermione." Harry's eyes were cold and nearly expressionless, but there was an unfamiliar longing and want that resided inside of them.
"You thought that she was dead for years. Why now, all of a sudden, do you find it necessary to play knight?" Harry scoffed at the remark.
"She will never be a damsel in distress, Malfoy. You of all people should know this." Malfoy's hand instinctively went to the spot on his face where she had slapped him. "Don't you want her to be happy?"
His answer was hesitant. "Not if it compromises my own comfort. I could hardly rest, let alone move on while she was trapped in that dreadful prison. I could feel her, she and I have a connection, you see."
"As does she and I. The three of us are interconnected." The third party, though unstated, was obviously in reference to Ronald Weasley.
Malfoy seemed unperturbed. "So I'm not part of the owling list, Potter? Sad, a sad thing indeed." Harry had the grace to look severely irritated.
"I thought that we decided against the witty banter, or did you change the rules on me?" He asked, his annoyance replaying as the sentiment echoed through the empty halls. "You're stalling." He said, a sudden yet obvious revelation.
Malfoy shrugged. "I could have disarmed you but the Dark Lord wants you for himself." He replied.
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Really? So you're not afraid." Malfoy looked nearly amused...nearly being the imperative word.
"To repeat a rather overused statement, you wish." Both of them frowned in nostalgia of their second year. "That really was the worst year for my hair."
"The fact that Hermione nearly died doesn't even resound some kind of regret?" He said in amusement. It was obvious that Malfoy had not thought of this.
He resolved to shrug once more. "I barely spoke to her at that interval in life. We were far too separated." He was leaving himself open to ridicule.
"And who's fault is that, exactly?" Silence. Harry found it wise to change the subject. "Does it ever bother you?" Reading Malfoy's expression, he continued. "The fact that someone as fantastic and frankly wonderful as Hermione actually loved you and you surrendered this for power?" He was pushing the right buttons.
"I would watch your tongue, Potter." He said through gritted teeth.
Harry paid him no mind. "Until you gave it all up I feared that I would never have a chance with Hermione. Remember the uproar that your 'match' caused? How she braved it all just because she loved you? You do have a way of destroying everything..." He was not a Seeker for six straight years for no particular reason. He saw Malfoy's hand twitch before he reached for his wand and, in that second, Harry shouted a curse at him, sending him hurtling through the air.
"I'm never one to throw the first curse." He said smugly, approaching the form of Malfoy. He held his wand in his outstretched arm and aimed it directly at the collapsed figure beneath him and only paused as he heard someone shouting through the halls.
"HARRY! HARRY!" And there she was, hair thrown haphazardly over her shoulder, eyes alight with happiness as she raced through the hallways, having spotted him.
"HERMIONE!" He called back, abandoning Malfoy in the blink of an eye and barreling towards her, not caring that the intelligent thing to do would be to remain silent and quietly usher her out of the castle and find Ron and Dumbledore. But after years of absence all their pretenses were abandoned and she flung herself into his arms, a smile lighting the entirety of the dark hallway.
She kissed his cheeks furiously before pressing her lips to his, though without tongue. "Oh Merlin, Harry! I cannot believe that you're here! Percy was here, and I got his wand, bloody bastard. Where's Ron? Where's Dumbledore? Where's..." She gasped, her eyes rounding into innocent circles as she looked over Harry's shoulder.
"Don't." Her voice had changed, become suddenly stern and terse, as though terrified. Harry had forgotten that Malfoy had been there.
"I think I will..." And a burst of yellow light exploded from the tip of his wand, no more words exchanged.
REVIEW and ill UPDATE. we're coming into the homestretch now, only one of two more chapters!
